{"id":3244,"date":"2018-08-20T15:47:15","date_gmt":"2018-08-20T15:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cancerhopenetwork.org\/?p=3244"},"modified":"2023-11-13T14:47:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T19:47:43","slug":"hopelight-spotlight-meet-jen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/blog\/hopelight-spotlight-meet-jen\/","title":{"rendered":"Puppies, puking and hope.","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Jenn’s diagnosis with leiomyosarcoma was as unexpected as the disease is rare. \u201cI was in my last year of medical training, getting ready to be married,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI\u2019d dropped ten pounds, was doing boot camps, but I noticed that my legs would hurt after walking up even a small hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

After one day with particularly swollen ankles, she had an ultrasound to look for a cause. The results came back after she\u2019d returned to work. Her doctor called with a simple message, \u201cYou have a huge blood clot. You need to get off your feet now, go to the emergency room and get a blood thinner ASAP.\u201d
\n\"eHOPE
\nShe began treatment for the blood clot but the symptoms persisted. Further testing revealed that what her doctors had thought was a swollen lymph node was actually an enormous mass. They moved into crisis mode. \u201cIt was Christmas time. We couldn\u2019t get anything scheduled. I finally got a biopsy. They figured out what I had and I started radiation and chemo. It was the worst Christmas ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although her medical training in pediatrics helped make sense of the jargon floating around her diagnosis and treatment, Jenn found new perspectives on the other side of the gown. Her first bout of radiation left her throwing up, unsure if she could go through the second treatment. Luckily, the tech on duty recognized the classic signs of radiation poisoning and Jenn’s care team was able to find medication to minimize the symptoms.<\/p>\n

It was a lesson she\u2019ll never forget \u2013 and one she shares with her matches. Patients should discuss preventive medications with their doctors before chemotherapy or radiation. That conversation could end up making a dramatic difference in quality of life.
\n\"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/matchme.html\"<\/a>
\n\u201cPeople have an expectation of being sick and vomiting all the time,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are great medicines to help control vomiting and nausea. There\u2019s no reason you have to feel that way all the time. I\u2019ve been on chemo for seven years and have only thrown up a few times.\u201d<\/p>\n

She encourages that advocacy in all aspects of life with leiomyosarcoma \u2013 or any cancer. \u201cAsk. Ask. Ask. Build relationships. Talk to the social worker. It\u2019s good to have a contact person after you\u2019ve been released.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenn’s life post-diagnosis has been a series of ups and downs that included searching for a job while undergoing radiation. \u201cI\u2019d get radiation, pop a pill and get on a plane to go to an interview. I didn\u2019t make a big deal of it, but I decided to share that I was in treatment with potential employers.\u201d
\nShe underwent surgery, where doctors removed a major vein, her right kidney and adrenal gland. Complications from her recovery led to gallbladder attacks, terrible chest pains and more surgery, which led to the discovery that her cancer had spread.<\/p>\n

Today, she gets scans every four months and has found equilibrium on an oral chemotherapy. \u201cI\u2019ve been on this chemo longer than pretty much anyone else. Most people are only on it for about a year and I\u2019ve been on it for five years. There\u2019s no hard precedent of what the right treatment is. There\u2019s no protocol. It\u2019s an ongoing conversation with me, my husband and my oncologist.\u201d
\n\"eHOPE
\nThrough her diagnosis, treatment and recoveries, Jenn and her husband have been surrounded by a community of loving family and supportive friends. It wasn\u2019t easy making the transition from helper to helped.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned how to be vulnerable and to ask for help,\u201d Jenn recalls. \u201cWhich was not in my wheelhouse. I always felt guilty asking for help and I\u2019d taken it as a great point of pride to be independent. But I\u2019ve learned that people want to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

And \u201cdo something\u201d they did. From homemade food (\u201cWhen I was first diagnosed and going through treatment, people made meals for us. Once a week, our friends would bring us a meal and it was often enough that we could eat for a couple days. It wasn\u2019t too much \u2013 and it was spaced out<\/em>.\u201d) to pajamas (\u201cSometimes you have to wear the hospital gown, but not always. Pajamas were a nice change<\/em>.\u201d), a hypnosis tape (\u201cMy friend is a psychiatrist. She tailor-made relaxation tapes that helped me envision my immune system fighting the cancer<\/em>.\u201d) and even taking shifts to watch over her (\u201cAfter surgery, my leg was paralyzed, but I had to get up every two hours to go walk to deal with the nerve pain. We had people come stay with us for a week at a time and get up with me every other night. They\u2019d take turns getting me up, helping me. Some of these people were taking their vacation time to care for me<\/em>.\u201d)<\/p>\n

That patchwork of love and care made all the difference. \u201cWe were grateful to have so many people who were willing to make a sacrifice to take care of me \u2013 to take care of both of us, really.\u201d\"eHOPEJenn recently celebrated her 43rd<\/sup> birthday. After nine years of poking, prodding, treatment and surgeries, age is something to be embraced. \u201cThis birthday was one I never thought I\u2019d see. I don\u2019t mind getting older, because I am actually living to see another birthday. And that, to me, is a big win. I\u2019m proud of making it this far.\u201d<\/p>\n

After nearly a decade of uncertainty, she and her husband are making \u201cleaps of faith, making commitments.\u201d They\u2019ve adopted a dog Piper and are looking to the future. \u201cI feel like we are finally able to start moving forward with our lives. We\u2019re moving out of the holding pattern we\u2019ve been in since I was 34.\u201d
\n\"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/matchme.html\"<\/a>
\n\u201cMy surgical oncologist was ever the optimist,\u201d she recalls when asked about the best advice she\u2019s ever received. His advice was simple, but profound. \u201cDon\u2019t let cancer take any more from you than it\u2019s already taken.\u201d Jennifer has put that advice into practice. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to catastrophize things, to make something worse than it actually is. Yes, my diagnosis is terrible, but we really have to cling onto the things that are important to us \u2013 our friends, building relationships, taking opportunities of joy and not wallowing in self pity.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s in that spirit that she began volunteering as a CHN Support Volunteer. \u201cIf I can make anything good out of this situation, if my experience can help others, that\u2019s another way for cancer not to take away so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Need perspective? Looking for some encouragement through a tough diagnosis or into survivorship? Get matched with Jenn \u2013 or another Support Volunteer who has been where you are.\u00a0 Click\u00a0HERE\u00a0<\/a>or call 877-HOPENET (877-467-3638) today.
\n\"eHOPE<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jenn’s diagnosis with leiomyosarcoma was as unexpected as the disease is rare. \u201cI was in my last year of medical training, getting ready to be married,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI\u2019d dropped ten pounds, was doing boot camps, but I noticed that my legs would hurt after walking up even a small hill.\u201d After one day with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":23,"featured_media":8715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[260,213,261,187],"post_folder":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPuppies, puking and hope. - Cancer Hope Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Leiomyosarcoma survivor Jenn has turned her diagnosis into an opportunity to help others facing this rare cancer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/blog\/hopelight-spotlight-meet-jen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Puppies, puking and hope.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leiomyosarcoma survivor Jenn has turned her diagnosis into an opportunity to help others facing this rare cancer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/blog\/hopelight-spotlight-meet-jen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cancer Hope Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CancerHopeNet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-20T15:47:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-13T19:47:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Puppies-puking-and-hope..jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"816\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"544\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brandon Pantano\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CancerHopeNet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CancerHopeNet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brandon Pantano\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/blog\/hopelight-spotlight-meet-jen\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/blog\/hopelight-spotlight-meet-jen\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brandon Pantano\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0b4a729980018733a63833ec14c219d4\"},\"headline\":\"Puppies, puking and hope.\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-08-20T15:47:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-13T19:47:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/blog\/hopelight-spotlight-meet-jen\/\"},\"wordCount\":1136,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"clinical trials\",\"inspiration\",\"leiomyosarcoma\",\"long term survivor\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Survivor and Caregiver Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/blog\/hopelight-spotlight-meet-jen\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cancerhopenetwork.org\/blog\/hopelight-spotlight-meet-jen\/\",\"name\":\"Puppies, puking and hope. - 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